Remote control with local, screen-guided setup

ABSTRACT

A system and method for setting up a user interface of a remote control. The remote control displays a logical group of function keys the activation of which will cause the remote control to transmit a command to a target device and a plurality of indicators representative of devices. A user input functions to select one of the plurality of indicators and the device represented by the selected indicator is assigned as the target device for the logical group of function keys.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/410,103, filed Apr. 9, 2003 which, in turn, claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 60/437,888, filed on Jan. 3, 2003, entitled “Remote Control With Local Screen-Guided Setup.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, relates to a remote control having a local, screen-guided setup process.

Remote controls including universal remote controls for controlling the operation of home appliances are well known. In this regard, a universal remote control functions by consolidating three, four, five, and more remote controls into one device. However, as more remotely controllable appliances enter the homes of consumers and the number of remotely controllable operations increase, the user interface of the universal remote control becomes increasingly more complex. This complexity arises from the need to provide more and more keys which are used to initiate the transmission of the control codes that control the increasing number of operations of the increasing number of home appliances. Disadvantageously, as the user interface of the universal remote control becomes more cluttered, the usability of the universal remote control diminishes. Accordingly, a need exists for a universal remote control having an improved user interface that simplifies the operation of the universal remote control and, as such, the remote operation of consumer appliances. A need also exists for an improved method for setting-up such a user interface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with these and other needs, a remote control having a local, screen-guided setup procedure is provided. In particular, the local, screen-guided setup procedure may be used to setup a remote control to present an interface for controlling the operation of multiple home appliances, for example, in a home theater system. Instructions or programming for implementing the local, screen-guided setup may be embodied on a readable medium, such as a memory chip, CD or DVD rom, smart card, or the like. Advantages, features, properties and relationships of local, screen-guided setup procedures will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles described hereinafter may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the remote control with local, screen-guided setup, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary remote control having an electroluminescent (“EL”) panel display;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the remote control of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the remote control of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4-7 illustrates exemplary display segments of the remote control of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a flow chart diagram of exemplary steps for use in setting up the user interface of the remote control of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary, local, screen-guided setup displays for use in setting up the user interface of the remote control of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary user interface resulting from the steps performed in accordance with FIGS. 8-10; and

FIGS. 12-17 illustrate further, exemplary, local, screen-guided setup displays for use in setting up the user interface of a remote control device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Increasingly, universal remote controls include a “home theater” mode activated, for example, by a special device selection key. When the home theater mode is activated, rather than placing the remote control into a mode for controlling the operation of a specific device (e.g., TV, DVD, etc.), which normally occurs when other device selection keys are activated, a special home theater page is invoked in which function keys of the graphical user interface of the remote control perform as a composite to facilitate control of several devices. It will be appreciated that activation of a function key typically results in the remote control transmitting a command to an intended target device. By way of example, within the home theater page the volume keys may be used to command volume operations of an audio amplifier, the transport keys may be used to command transport operations of a DVD player, and the channel selection keys may be used to command channel operations of a satellite receiver, etc. While the home theater mode of operation enhances the home theater viewing experience, it usually requires a lengthy initial setup process, since the user must specify which device is to be assigned (as the intended target) to each group of function keys.

To simply the initial setup of a home theater page of a remote control, selective key illumination capabilities may be utilized. By way of example, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary universal remote control 100 having such selective key illumination capabilities. In general, the face of the remote control 100 includes an area 102 for selection of the device to be controlled, a second area 104 depicting device functions that may be controlled, and a key 106 to initiate setup of the unit—e.g., to select a brand and model of the devices to be controlled as well as other customizations.

Unlike conventional remote controls which are usually constructed using silicon rubber keypads protruding through cut-outs in a hard plastic upper housing, the remote control 100 uses a flexible, segmented electroluminescent (“EL”) panel 212 that is overlaid over a dome switch style key matrix 210. This is illustrated electrically in FIG. 2 and mechanically in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, it will thus be appreciated that pressure applied to, for example, any of the graphical user interface icons 320 . . . 324, etc., will result in the corresponding dome switch 330 . . . 334, etc. making contact with the underlying printed circuit board 370 to complete a circuit, whereby individual remote control functions are selected by the user. Furthermore, in this exemplary remote control 100, the EL panel 212 may be constructed as described in pending PCT patent application WO 00/72638, which is assigned to Cambridge Consultants Ltd. and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, to allow various parts of the display to be independently illuminated under control of the microprocessor 202 and EL display interface 214, illustrated in FIG. 2. The advantage of such a construction is that different elements may be illuminated at different times, depending on the activity currently being performed by the user.

By way of a more detailed example, the numeric keypad portion 340 of the EL panel may be arranged as three separately controllable segments 402, 403, and 404, as illustrated in FIG. 4. To achieve the numeric pad appearance 340′, shown for example in FIG. 6, segments 402 and 403 are illuminated by the microprocessor. Similarly, to achieve the appearance 340″, shown for example in FIG. 7, segments 402 and 404 are illuminated. A function key area, e.g., the transport key/picture-in-picture control area 350, may also be arranged into segments 412, 413, 414, 415, and 416. In order to achieve the appearance 350′, shown for example in FIG. 5 c, segments 412, 414, and 416 are illuminated. To achieve the appearance 350″, shown for example in FIG. 6, only segments 412 and 413 are illuminated.

The ability to independently illuminate various parts of the display may also be used to selectively illuminate groups of function keys which correspond to functions applicable to a particular device to be controlled by the remote control 100. By way of example, FIGS. 5 a and 5 b illustrate how the keypad display may appear for use in controlling the operation of a television device which supports menu functionality 510 (FIG. 5 b)) versus the keypad display for use in controlling the operation of a television which does not support menu functionality (FIG. 5 a). For additional explanation regarding the display of function keys considering functionality of a device, reference may be had to co-pending application Ser. No. 09/905,396 that is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The ability to independently illuminate various parts of the display may be further used to display various key functionalities according the current state of the intended target device (i.e., the device to which commands are to be transmitted). An example of this is shown in FIGS. 5 b and 5 c where activation of the “PIP” key 512 by the user not only transmits the remote control command to toggle the television device in and out of a picture-in-picture mode, but also controls availability (i.e., the display of function keys for activation) of the key set 350′ used to control the picture-in-picture display as a function of the PIP state the television device is commanded to enter.

Yet another manner in which the ability to independently illuminate various parts of the display may be used is to simplify setup of remote control features. For example, if the exemplary remote control 100 includes a “home theater” mode as described earlier, for example, activated by a special device selection key 108 as illustrated in FIG. 1, the setup of this home theater mode of operation may be made through use of selective illumination. Such an exemplary setup process is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 8. In the illustrated example, to initiate a setup mode the user may press and hold a setup key 106, illustrated by way of example in FIG. 7, for a predetermine time period, e.g., three seconds. Activation of the setup key in this manner may then cause the display of a setup menu 340″, illustrated by way of example FIG. 7. From the choices presented in the setup menu, the user may select the home theater setup button 716 to enter a mode for setting up the home theater graphical user interface page.

In response to selection of the home theater setup button 716, the remote control 10 may generally perform steps diagrammed in the flowchart of FIG. 9 and illustrated in FIGS. 10 a through 10 d. By way of example only, the steps for setting up the home theater page may comprise illuminating each group of functions to be controlled (e.g., the transport function keys, the volume function keys, the channel control function keys, etc.), one at a time, and allowing the user to select the device to which the illuminated group of function keys are to be assigned when in home theater mode. Referring to FIG. 10 a and flowchart steps 900 through 903, first the keys associated with volume control 1002 may be illuminated together with the device keys 102. (The device keys 102 illuminated may be limited to only those devices for which the remote control has been setup to control the operation of—using well known setup procedures—or may allow for the display of all devices capable of being controlled and, if one is selected for which the remote control has not been setup to control, a setup procedure would be started to cure this oversight). One or both sets of buttons (function and device buttons) may be flashed several times to further indicate to the user that this attribute is ready for assignment to a specific device. Further, the current device assigned to a function group (if any) may be indicated in the device display area by flashing or animating an icon 102 representative of the device. Once the user has selected the new device to be used as, in this example, the master volume control for the home theater mode, by touching 1012 the icon representing the desired target device for the volume commands (the audio amplifier in the example shown), the process may be repeated to setup (i.e., assign a target device to) the channel changing keys 1004 (FIG. 10 b and flowchart steps 904 through 907), the guide navigation keys 1006 (FIG. 10 c and flowchart steps 908 through 911) and finally the transport keys 1008 (FIG. 10 d and flowchart steps 912 through 915). Upon completion of these steps, the home theater mode of the illustrated, exemplary remote control, illustrated in FIG. 11, would be configured as follows: FUNCTION KEY GROUP TARGET APPLIANCE Volume control buttons 1002: Audio amplifier Channel changing 1004: Satellite receiver Menu navigation 1006: Satellite receiver Transport control 1008: DVD player. It will be appreciated that similar approaches may be used to simplify other aspects of configuring the remote control 100. For example, configuration of the “volume lock” feature (button 718 in FIG. 7), which allows assignment of a master volume control device across all modes, may be accomplished in a manner similar to that described above in conjunction with FIG. 10 a.

FIGS. 12 through 17 illustrate alternative steps for setting up the user interface of a remote control application. In this example, the remote control application is implemented on a PDA, tablet PC, or Smart Display platform as contemplated in co-pending U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/288,727 and 10/176,315 which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. With these platforms, a portion of the screen may be set aside for a composite set of function control keys 1700 that would be associated with a home theater mode of operation and/or a particular activity such as watching a DVD movie, shown for example in FIG. 17. Exemplary steps involved in configuring this set of function keys is shown in FIGS. 12 through 16.

In the illustrated example, the user may first select the home theater mode and/or activity for which the user wishes to create a set of function keys, watching DVD 1210 is the selected function in the example illustrated. In response, the application may display (FIG. 13) function key groups 1310, 1320 together with drop-down menus 1330, 1340 from which a target device to be assigned to each function key group may be selected. In addition, the setup process may also indicate locations 1310′ and 1320′ in which these key groups may be placed in the resulting composite function key user interface page or field, together with a label of the like showing the current settings for each group 1350, 1360 (if any). Once the user has assigned a target device to a function key group and is satisfied with the device assignments for these keys, tapping the “next” icon 1370, for example, may step the user to a further setup screen, shown by way of example in FIG. 14. The example page illustrated in FIG. 14 presents the user with different function key groups 1410, 1420 and requests the user to indicate which one is used most frequently during the activity specified. In the illustrated example, the user has selected 1425, indicative of the directional menu navigation keys 1430, to be included in the composite key set. Preferably, the function key groups 1410 and 1420 include functions that are supported by the intended target appliance. FIG. 15 illustrates how individual keys 1510, 1520 may also be placed in the home theater or activity page and configured to perform specific functions through the use of device and function key command pull-down menus 1512, 1514, 1516 and 1518. In the example illustrated in FIG. 16, the user selects an icon 1610 and name 1620 for the activity panel just created. Selection of this icon from, for example a home page, would cause the display of the created activity panel. FIG. 17 shows the completed composite set of command keys. Tapping “finish” 1710 in this example would be used to indicate a completion to this screen-guided setup process.

While specific embodiments have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof. 

1. A remote control device, comprising: a display comprised of a plurality of individually illuminateable electroluminescent strips, the display having a first area from which a user may select an intended target device for commands transmitted by the remote control and a second area from which a user may select a command to be transmitted; and a transmission circuit linked to the display for use in transmitting commands to the target appliance; wherein the plurality of individually electroluminescent strips are selectively illuminated so as to display function keys in the second area which correspond to functions applicable to a selected intended target device.
 2. The remote control as recited in claim 1, wherein the individually illuminateable electroluminescent strips are selectively illuminated so as to display function keys in the second area which correspond to a state of the intended target device.
 3. A remote control device, comprising: a display comprised of a plurality of individually illuminable electroluminescent strips, the display having a first area from which a user may select an intended target device for commands transmitted by the remote control and a second area from which a user may select a command to be transmitted; and a transmission circuit linked to the display for use in transmitting commands to the target appliance; wherein the individually illuminateable electromagnetic strips are selectively illuminated so as to display a logical group of functions keys in the second area and a plurality of icons representative of devices in the first area from which a user may select one of the icons to assign a device as the intended target device for commands transmittable in response to activation of the logical group of function keys. 